How often should exhaust fan be running?

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
24/7. Fungus (bud rot) grows better in the dark and you don't want the air to stagnate when it's dark. Air movement also protects against fungus, so don't add dark and take away air movement. That's a +2 in the column that fungus likes.
That's the job for my oscillating fan that runs 24/7 to keep the air moving vigorously at all times. I have a 16" and a 12" in there. The 16" is on the timer with the light so turns off but the 12" keeps going. Only a 7x9' room so that fan is enough in the dark. 20 years and never had bud rot but then out RH is chronically low especially in winter.

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Southernontariogrower

Well-Known Member
I've read you want to spec your exhaust fan such that you refresh the air at least every minute. Should the exhaust fan be running 24/7? Only when the light is running? Only when needed to maintain temperature?

Thanks!
Only read first ten posts and would say depends if running co2 or not. Or just your environmental conditions. Closed or open? But if not enriching environment then would depend on how fast plants deplete the co2, ld want it as high as l can get it. So for this reason ld say constantly.
More than enough I'm sure but it depends on how many plants are stuffed into a space. If it's packed with plants then either a lot of airflow or CO2 supplementation is needed. With lots of plants the RH will quickly climb and the exhaust fan will be triggered so the airflow problem is solved for that. If only a couple of plants then they aren't going to use up the CO2 so fast so there is less need for as much airflow.

In my instance all the air going into my grow room comes from the greater area of the underground bunker the room is in and stays cool all year round. The highest it gets is maybe 65F tho the last couple summers has only hit 63. Can get down to almost freezing in the winter but usually hovers around 40F. Until recently I was using a 400W CMH light and it didn't warm up the room enough to trip the fan but I wasn't trying to get fast growth out of the two plants in there so no matter. Now there's a 600W MH and the fan kicks in every now and then but I've raised the thermostat to let it get up to about 85 in there so I can burn my alcohol lamp and feed them lots of extra CO2. I just put them in 7gal pots and set up a ScroG screen in preparation for flowering and need to stuff some more but smaller plants in there with them. Going to be a bit crowded but can use the light mover to make sure everybody gets enough light or switch up to 1000W SHPS.

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Alcohol lamp? Must look that up. Agree with everything you said, all depends on co2. And getting them enough.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Alcohol lamp? Must look that up. Agree with everything you said, all depends on co2. And getting them enough.
Like the alcohol lamps we used in science class in junior high back in the 60s. I made a dual burner one using 3/8" copper tubing soldered to a mason jar lid but it ran the CO2 up over 1500 in 5 min and even with just one wick lit it was too much. So I made a smaller one using 3/16" tubing and a cotton shoelace for a wick and that is good for leaving on all day and still keep it between 1250 and 1500. I generally only use it during the stretch when the plants goes thru a big growth spurt and with lots of light and higher temps can really use the extra CO2.

I have the top off this one on a 1L mason jar now and it's burning about 150ml of methyl hydrate for a full 18hr day. I keep it in a metal coffee can inside a stone crock below and a bit in front of my oscillating fan so the CO2 gets mixed in real good as it comes off. I have a CO2 controller so run that to see waht's happening when I burn that. A damn candle is enough to get it to 1500 so would work great in a tent as long as the fan isn't running all the time. I have my exhaust fan control at 90 and it won't even get that hot in there with the 600.

AlcoholLampSmaller.JPG

AlcoholLamp03.jpg

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Star Dog

Well-Known Member
I'd say it depends on your climate.
Running 24/7 is fine in summer only (for me anyway) any other time 24hrs runs away with the heat and drives up the humidity.

A environment controller is a must have item imo, without the right environment growth is suffering.
 
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